The first Poverty Truth Commission in County Durham began in the spring of 2024.
Fifteen Community Commissioners (individuals with lived experience of poverty) were recruited from Ferryhill, Shildon, Bishop Auckland and Newton Aycliffe. These areas were chosen due to their status of ‘left behind neighbourhoods’, that is, places which face the double disadvantage of high deprivation and a lack of social infrastructure.
View the Left Behind Communities map here
From September 2024, Community Commissioners and project workers met fortnightly to begin to build relationships, develop trust and start to share stories and experiences of poverty.
From January 2025, preparation for the launch event stepped up, and meetings moved to weekly. Our community commissioners are a great bunch of individuals with experiences of many issues such as addiction, being a care leaver, homelessness, the asylum seeker process, domestic abuse and many others.
The launch event in March 2025 was attended by over 100 people from businesses, charities and organisations across the County.
You can watch the whole launch here and the highlights video here. Please note these are stories about real lives and contain details which some people may find upsetting.
Between March 2025 and June 2026, the Civic and Community Commissioners met monthly in their working groups to discuss ideas, identify gaps and come up with solutions. They shared their findings and work so far at the Celebration/Sharing event at the beginning of June 2026:
Conversations are underway with a number of organisations across County Durham to look at longer-term plans for the PTC.
Find out more:
